Father's Day - 2023: Tim and Hannah Stokes

This Father’s day, Tim Stokes will be remembering how an unexpected turn of events last month led to his wife Hannah giving birth in the hallway of their Essex home.

Hannah was due to give birth on Sunday the 7^th of May, but in the early hours of the morning of the 5^th, she started having steady contractions.
“We didn’t worry too much about them, but they started accelerating, and we decided that we would take Hannah to the hospital at 6.30am.” said Tim.

“However, as we were making those arrangements, the contractions continued accelerating rapidly.
As they were about to go to the car, Hannah said ‘I can’t do it, it’s too strong’.

Tim called 999, and once the call centre had established the details of situation, an ambulance crew was despatched.

“While I was waiting, the call handler was taking me through the things that I needed to do and get ready.
The crews arrived within 15 minutes, and 20 minutes after their arrival, baby Elodie was born in the hallway.
Although baby Elodie was – unusually - born in the amniotic sac without the waters breaking, Hannah and Tim said the clinicians dealt with the situation calmly and professionally.

“Their communication was excellent – they read our birth plan and allowed us to sever the birth cord ourselves, as we had wished.
“They turned something that could have been really scary into an impressive and memorable event.”

“They were all very calm – they couldn’t leave until the midwife arrived and said everything was OK, so we were able have a cup of tea in the kitchen afterwards. It was a lovely, calm atmosphere.”
Mum and Elodie are now both doing well.

Ambulance Care Assistant, Nikki Gooch (pictured next to Tim on left) said: “We love these sort of jobs! They bring so much joy to all involved. It was a pleasure to help Hannah and Tim bring little Elodie into the world.” 

Senior Paramedic Tom Rice who also attended will also probably be thinking about this callout on Sunday:
"It was a privilege to be part of this unique moment for a lovely family, it was particularly special for me as less than 24 hours later my own son was also born."